The Blue Sky Tag

Awwww! I have been tagged by my good friend Simon Farnell for this very fun little blogging tag! Thanks Si! It was fun reading your answers, and I hope mine to your questions don’t disappoint.

*I made this banner for the tag! If you like it, feel free to use it if you participate! 🙂 There is also the great one you can get on Simon’s TAG post too!

First, the rules:

Thank the person who nominated you.

Answer the 11 questions.

Tag 11 people.

Give your nominees 11 questions to answer.

Now, to answer Simon’s questions!

When you see blue skies and a sunny day what do you want to do most?

Oh, I love the sun. After days on end of cloudy skies, all I want is to stand in the sun and soak it up, arms spread wide and face tilted toward its warmth. Otherwise I’m like my dog and am tempted to sprawl out on the patch of sunshine on my living room floor. I enjoy going out on my patio and writing when the weather is beautiful, taking walks and hiking too. Oh, I also want to shove open the windows, blast the music and clean my house! 🙂

What’s the most ‘blue skies’ thought you’ve ever had?

Generally, the answer to this is I start singing the song “Blue Skies” that goes, “Blue skies, smiling at me, nothing but blue skies do I see. Blue birds singing a song! Nothing but blue birds all day long. Never saw the sun, shining so bright! Never saw things, going so right. Noticing the days, hurrying by. When you’re in love, my how they fly!” 😀

Well, it’ll be better if you enjoy some Ella Fitzgerald instead of reading it.

What’s your favourite season and why?

It used to be fall, when the weather cools and autumn colors speckle the horizon, but as I’ve gotten older and enjoyed winter less and less, it is spring that has truly caught my fancy. I love the warming weather, the resilience of baby plants shooting from the dark soil, the buds and blooms on trees, and the vibrate colors of flowers ushering in the season of new life. Yeah. I love spring.

Has there been a moment in your life that stands out above anything? What was it?

There are quite a few actually. Not a boatload, but plenty. Enough to remind me to be thankful. I’ll mention the “duhs” of my wedding day, the births of each of my three biological children, and the adoption of my youngest. Those are definite standouts. Seeing my kids succeed at something new or difficult sticks with me. Going way back to when I was eleven, I fell while rollerskating and broke my arm. Our church had a rink and the hospital was right next door. We were at church for a potluck and baptism celebration.

The youth pastor called everyone off the rink to come get ready for food and then the baptisms, so I rolled off the rink and onto the carpet. There were these thin metal bars holding the carpeting in place and my wheels must have slipped down one of those when I turned the corner. I fell, breaking my left wrist in the process. I was stuck on my belly on the floor. I couldn’t put pressure, twist, or lean anywhere on that arm or move my body in any way that would move the bone. It only hurt when I moved.

When I finally got the youth pastor’s attention I was starting to freak out. Someone went and got my parents. I was not a small eleven year old, but after one person slid a thin piece of board under my arm, my dad lifted me straight up at the waist and carried me next door to the hospital.

The regular doc was out of town and an intern was working there that day (this was a small island in AK, so this wasn’t uncommon), he was asking about what was going on next door, what we were up to, while they examined my arm (the X-ray was awful! They had to twist my arm to get good pictures. I screamed.) and put a cast on it. It turns out the doc had recently become a believer, putting his faith in God, and wanted to be baptized but was far from home, being an intern doc in AK and all. Of course, he was invited over to talk with our head pastor (I miss Pastor Dave. What an amazing man he was…) and half an hour after that he was baptized at our little Church of God in Alaska.

I guess the best reminder for me in this story and why it sticks with me is that even the bad stuff in our lives can be used for good.

What do you love most about blogging?

The people. Definitely the people.

What do you think could make blogging better?

If it were somehow possible to meet in person every one of the friends I’ve met here.

What’s your favourite TV series?

Goodness….uhhhhh….right now I guess it’s this new Iron Fist series on Netflix. I’m a sucker for a lot of comics turned to TV shows. 🙂

What’s your favourite film?

I don’t really have a favorite. Huh. Nothing jumps out in my mind anyway. I’ll tell you about an awesome steal of a deal I got today, though. Went to the thrift store with the children and found, I kid you not, a mint condition Star Wars IV, V, VI, & Bonus material DVD disc set and got it for $2.99! I feel like a rockstar. lol

What was the last thing you did that you thought you wouldn’t like but were surprised you did?

I can’t think of a single thing…not that I don’t try things, but I like to try most things. I wasn’t sure if I’d like script writing, but I’m having a blast with that, but I guess that’s the closest I can think of right now. Phew! So many questions! Now I must share a list and I’m thinking it will be difficult to top these questions. 🙂 Not even gonna try!

For the sheer fact that I am hoping to get to know some of you more, I nominate (with no pressure, since I’m pretty sure not everyone has the opportunity/time to do these):

It was super small, on an island. There are just so many difficult things that happen in life that we have to endure, but we never really know how our life and circumstances and have an effect on someone else’s life. That always reminds me of this and gives me courage and hope. 🙂

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Rachael Ritchey is the author of young adult fiction. Her clean but real and true-to-self writing reflects qualities of courage and hope with daring adventure and sweet romance that almost anyone can enjoy. Rachael lives in Spokane, WA with her husband, kids, and their dog named Hashtag.